Doctor Brother
by Bryony Paige Fox
Summary: After non-stop working upon returning from Duelist Kingdom, Mokuba gets sick and Seto does his best to balance renovating his company and caring for the little brother he lost for so long. Things get really serious when Mokuba demands that Yugi stay with him when Seto can't be. Brotherly fluff and Seto Kaiba's worst nightmare all in one.
1. I

Doctor Brother

* * *

So I know it doesn't make much sense to start another story when I have two others in-progress, but I've seen lots of sick-fic thingys and I wanted to give it a go, since Kaiba's big brother feels always make me go _awwww_...he's not really such a douche after all! This story probably won't be very long, but is there anything better than some good old Kaiba Bro fluff? :)

* * *

**I.**

The CEO of Kaiba Corporation always had an insane amount of work; lately, there had been even more than usual. After the fiasco Pegasus and his board members had put him through, the already-distrustful Seto Kaiba became even more cynical, and fired even more employees who had obvious connections to his new enemies. Luckily, his little brother Mokuba was always right beside him, helping with whatever he could. At first, Seto didn't want to involve him in all the extra work, but after several weeks, Mokuba admitted that he wanted to stick around and work mainly because this was the only way he was going to see his big brother. The elder brother had no choice but to allow this.

He stared at the carefully constructed piles of paper neatly stacked and lined up on his desk. The piles would grow, then the brothers would plow through most of them, until more papers were added. Then the cycle would start all over again. The brunet sighed and leaned back in his chair, casting a glance over at the little brother, whose face was buried deep in documents. 'Buried' meaning he was face-down on the papers, having dozed off not too long ago. Seto's icy blue eyes defrosted a bit at the sight. He knew Mokuba had been working extra hard, just as hard as he had. Except Seto was used to living off of minimal sleep, missing meals, and endless workflow; Mokuba was still only a child and the last thing Seto wanted was for the kid to grow up the same way he had. A swift knock sounded at his door, rousing the child. Mokuba blinked and cleared his throat, almost appearing confused; the elder brother frowned at the flushed look on his skin.

"Come on," Kaiba finally called, and his assistant stepped in, carrying a paper bag.

"I know you haven't eaten all day, so I brought you two some dinner," she told him quietly, setting the bag down on his desk. The woman wasn't much older than Seto himself (he was eighteen and she was twenty), but she was downright maternal to the both of them. Normally, the CEO would have found this annoying, but she had a bit of an anxious quality to her that made him realize she actually cared for her boss's well-being without the expectation of them becoming friends. Plus, she was always exceedingly efficient in everything she was asked to do, so he tolerated it.

"Thank you, Isabel," he told her, pulling the bag closer. She nodded and stepped back.

"Do you need anything else right now?"

Seto flipped through a few more papers before responding. "Just the Winters contracts, if you would." Isabel nodded and ducked out to her desk, and the brunet turned to his little brother. Mokuba's head was now tucked in his arms, which were crossed and placed on the desk they were working at. Seto reached out and gently placed the back of his hand on his abnormally heated face; as he'd begun to suspect, Mokuba was coming down with something. He sighed and gently shook Mokuba's shoulders.

"Mokuba, I need you to wake up," he coaxed in a voice much softer than he could remember it ever being. Apparently, the gentleness shocked Mokuba, too, because he immediately raised his head to look into Seto's eyes.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to fall asleep, I'll keep working." Mokuba forced himself to start going through papers again, but his brother reached over pulled the papers right out of his small hands.

"Are you feeling all right?" he asked, baring his blue eyes right into Mokuba's soul; he already knew the answer, but he wanted to take the kid's word for it first.

"Oh, I'm fine, just a little tired," he brushed the question off. Seto decided to keep a closer eye on the child, then reached into the bag his assistant had dropped off and pulled out a blueberry bagel and a package of cream cheese.

"Here, eat something. Maybe it'll help you wake up a little."

Mokuba stared at the item of food for a moment as his brother smeared some of the cream cheese on half the bagel before passing it over. Mokuba took a small bite, chewed, and swallowed before turning a forced grin at his brother.

"That helped a little. Thanks, Seto."

But the CEO wasn't convinced, since it took the child over two hours to finish that half bagel. Once Mokuba's head began drooping again, Seto glanced at the clock and frowned. It was nearly eight at night. Normally, they'd work well past midnight, but if Mokuba really was coming down with something, he'd need all the rest he could get. Sighing, the elder brother stood and picked up his suitcase.

"Time to go home, kid."

Mokuba blinked. "We've got a lot to do." He motioned to all the papers, but Seto shook his head.

"We've got tomorrow."

The younger Kaiba obediently stood up and shuffled out after his big brother, rubbing his eyes. They both walked out to Seto's car; lately, Mokuba had noted he preferred driving himself. It wasn't really such a big deal, but the increasing paranoia was a little disconcerting. He crawled into the passenger seat and waited patiently as Seto checked it for explosives, poison gas dispensers, venomous snakes, or tiny rabid dogs. Once the vehicle was deemed safe, Seto slipped into the driver's side and buckled himself in, then almost hesitantly ignited the engine. When nothing catastrophic happened, he took them both home.

Mokuba had fallen asleep and was slumped over against the door by the time Seto had parked the car in the garage. The elder brother sighed to himself, then went around and carefully opened the door and pulled the child into his arms.

He was much too warm.

Seto carried the kid to his bedroom, and carefully changed him into his pajamas and tucked him into the mountains of blankets and pillows before he went to the medicine cabinet and pulled out an ear thermometer; neither brother got sick very often, so he could only hope it still worked. He returned to Mokuba's bedroom and took a seat at the edge of the bed, then gently turned Mokuba onto his back and inserted the thermometer into his ear. After a few moments it beeped and read 101.3 degrees. Seto cursed to himself, and Mokuba stirred slightly before waking up.

The child glanced at the thermometer in his brother's hand. "Seto, I'm fine, really..."

"You will be, you just need some good sleep," Seto muttered, running his hand through his kid brother's bangs quickly. "I'll be finishing some work in the lounge, come and talk to me if you need anything."

Mokuba's eyes closed and he nodded. "Good night, Seto."

The elder Kaiba remained at the child's bedside until he could hear soft, even breathing. Then he spared one last glance at his sleeping little brother before heading off to work the rest of the night away.


	2. II

Doctor Brother

* * *

**II.**

Numbers. Statistics. Legalese. What would usually be clear-cut to Seto was suddenly starting to blend together into some weird binary code thing with laws of its own. He shook his head, shoved the papers away, then rubbed his increasingly weighted eyes. The clock told him it was almost five in the morning, that meant it was almost time to get up. He sighed and gently closed his laptop, deciding it would be good to check on Mokuba, who had woken a few hours ago with a splitting headache and came to his big brother, sobbing. It was heart-wrenching for Seto; Mokuba was such a tough kid. Even when some kid at school had bullied him and broken his arm, Mokuba had stood up for himself and never shed a tear. The bully, on the other hand, shed plenty after Seto Kaiba was done with him.

Seto pushed Mokuba's bedroom door open quietly and went to sit beside him. He'd given the child some aspirin, made sure he drank an entire glass of water, and when Mokuba still was whimpering painfully, he'd administered one of his own personal sleeping pills, knowing it would keep the kid down for the count. Currently, Mokuba was asleep, curled up and bundled in all ten thousand of his blankets, looking like a warm little sleeping burrito. Seto reached over and grabbed the thermometer once again to check his fever. This time, it was just over 102 degrees. So it wasn't too much higher, but still concerning.

Mokuba suddenly began coughing in his sleep, and Seto pulled him into his arms and patted him on the back until the coughing ceased. Mokuba moaned and shivered before waking up; he realized he was being hugged.

"Seto..." he mumbled weakly, pulling back to look up. It had been a very long time since his brother had taken the time to really care for him, and even though his brother's heart was no longer evil, his personality remained cold and aloof. At that moment, he was practically cuddling, and as much as Mokuba had yearned for the brotherly love, it was a bit odd now that it was actually happening.

"You're sick, Mokuba," the elder brother stated, stroking the child's long black hair. "Next time, just tell me the truth when I ask how you're feeling."

"I'm sorry..." he mumbled, finally starting to relax into the affection. "I just wanted to help you keep working."

Seto sighed as his brother started go limp in his arms, and began to work on wrapping Mokuba back up into the blankets again. Before he could leave, Mokuba's small hand reached out and grabbed the sleeve of his dark blue coat. Seto blinked and looked down at his brother.

"Seto, have you slept yet?" The elder brother had no choice but to shake his head. Mokuba wriggled over and patted the spot beside him. "Stay with me, it'll help me feel better faster."

Seto rolled his eyes. "You don't know that for sure."

"I know I'll sleep better if I know you're sleeping, too."

The elder brother let out a sigh, kicked off his shoes, and carefully laid down beside his brother. Mokuba sacrificed some of his blankets for his brother, then moved closer to retain some more warmth. Seto rolled onto his side and tentatively draped an arm over his little brother, right after turning off the alarm. His little brother needed him, and now it was time to be there...even if it would barely begin to make up his severe absence as a big brother the past few years.

* * *

When Mokuba woke up in the early afternoon, he found himself buried not only beneath blankets, but also his big brother's body. Seto was a sprawler, and had taken the liberty of occupying Mokuba's bed to the fullest extent that he could. The younger Kaiba grinned at the fact that he was still there and carefully removed himself from being crushed under Seto's chest. Mokuba coughed, took another drink of water, then sat back to observe his big brother for a few moments as he slept.

At this point, Seto was lying on his back and snoring lightly. His hair was just as messy as his shirt was wrinkled; Mokuba snickered to himself about that. His perfectionist big brother looking less than completely put together just seemed unreal. He reached out and playfully messed the brown locks up even more, which caused Seto to snort mid-snore and swat the hand away, before he rolled over onto his side and seemed to fall into an even deeper sleep. The elder brother never slept so soundly. Mokuba shook his head, smiling, and snuggled up to get some more sleep, which might have been attainable if it didn't feel like every muscle in his body was aching as though he'd just run a ten thousand mile race. With a heavy sigh, Mokuba turned over onto his stomach and let out a pitiful whine; that small, mournful sound was enough to instantly wake Seto from the depths of his sleep.

"Are you okay?" he asked, sitting up carefully before placing his hand on the kid's face for what felt like the millionth time. Mokuba nodded, but before he could speak, there was a knock on the door.

"Sir?" came Roland's voice.

"Come in," Seto called back as he stood up and straightened his shirt and coat out.

The bodyguard walked in, and tried his best to hide the look of surprise on his face when he saw the situation in the room. "Sir, I got the memo last night about Mokuba being ill; however, there is an emergency at Kaiba Corp that does require immediate action."

Seto scowled in annoyance before dismissing Roland for the moment. He turned to the little Kaiba with almost apologetic eyes. "Mokuba..."

"It's okay, I know work comes first," Mokuba mumbled sadly, pulling the blankets over his head. Seto immediately pulled them back.

"I'll get a maid to come sit with you," Seto offered, but Mokuba shook his head. "No? What can I do then?"

"I want Yugi to come over. At least he'll play games with me."


	3. III

Doctor Brother

* * *

**III.**

What the hell had he agreed to?

Seto stacked a set of papers in order and angrily slammed his hand down on the stapler. Once again, that damn Yugi was saving his ass. He should be at home, caring for Mokuba, instead of fixing his useless employees' serious mistakes. The stapler received another livid whack, then was thrown across the room until it hit the door.

A few moments later, Isabel ran into the room, eyes wide with concern.

"Mr. Kaiba, are you-? Oh..." she trailed off after stumbling over the stapler, which was lying right where it had fallen in front of the office door. The assistant paused, carefully reading her boss, before proceeding. "Is everything all right?"

The CEO growled and buried his face into his hands. "These idiots have no idea what they're doing. They screwed up so bad that _I_ can't even tell what they were trying to do."

Isabel smirked and leaned against the wall, shaking her head. "You look tired, would you like some coffee?"

"Please," Kaiba answered with a sigh, turning back to his computer. The woman nodded, and replaced the stapler on her boss's desk before leaving to get Seto his caffeine fix.

* * *

"Uno," Yugi said softly, with a small smile as he waved the last card in his hand at the child lying in the bed. Mokuba giggled and shook his head.

"You just win at everything, don't you?"

Yugi laughed and patted Mokuba's shoulder. "Maybe next time you'll win..." He moved the back of his hand to the kid's forehead, which felt incredibly warm. "You're still burning up..."

"It's just a little fever," Mokuba assured as Yugi reached for the thermometer. The spiky haired boy shrugged and held the instrument out anyhow.

"Maybe, but I just want to make sure it's not too high. Your brother would shoot me if I let anything happen to you," Yugi half-joked, not really wanting to think about what Kaiba would do if something seriously happened to Mokuba.

"He wouldn't shoot you, Seto hates guns," Mokuba retorted, but he accepted his fate and obediently stuck it in his ear for a few moments until Yugi retrieved it. 102 degrees on the dot. High, but it could be worse; still, Yugi didn't want to take any chances. He stood up and retrieved a cold, wet wash cloth, then returned to Mokuba's side.

"Lie back," Yugi instructed gently, and once Mokuba obliged, he placed the cloth on the exceedingly warm forehead. "I'm going to get you some soup for lunch, but I want you to try to nap a bit while I'm doing that. Can I get you anything before I go do that?"

Mokuba sighed and nodded. "Maybe an aspirin? I have a bad headache."

"Of course," Yugi told him, and walked over to the dresser where the elder Kaiba brother had left some medication out to give Mokuba if needed. He dispensed a tablet and gave it to Mokuba, along with a glass of water. Once the child was settled comfortably, Yugi went down to the kitchen, where a cook was tending to a large pot of soup already.

"Good evening," she greeted Yugi with a smile. "Mr. Kaiba wanted you to call him when you have a chance."

"Um...thanks..." he answered, returning the smile. "I was just coming down to fix some soup for Mokuba. He should eat something."

The woman laughed. "I couldn't agree more. Neither could Mr. Kaiba, he's the one who asked me to fix you two some wild rice soup."

Yugi thanked the woman before excusing himself to make the phone call. The cook directed him to the lounge, where a cordless telephone rested on an end table. He was happy to see that Kaiba's office number was already programmed into speed dial.

"This is Kaiba," snapped a familiarly aggressive and irritated voice. Yugi hesitated for a moment.

"Uh...it's Yugi. I was supposed to call you...?"

"Is Mokuba okay?" he asked immediately.

"Yeah, he's fine. He's taking a nap right now while your cook is making him soup."

There was rapid typing for a few moments; Yugi wondered if Kaiba had meant to hang up on him, but the CEO finally spoke again. "Have you checked his temperature?"

"Just a few minutes ago. It's holding at 102 degrees."

Kaiba growled. "That's higher than before."

"I know," Yugi said soothingly, attempting to manage the impossible and calm him down. "I gave him some aspirin and put a cold cloth on his head. I'll check again after he eats, but I promise he'll be fine." There was the sound of some stuff slamming around, papers shuffling, and a loud thud Yugi couldn't recognize.

"I should be back by nine. Call me if anything happens." _Click_.

Yugi rolled his eyes and hung up the phone before heading back to the kitchen. The cook was just placing bowls onto a try, and she shot Yugi a concerned look once he entered the room.

"Is everything all right?"

Yugi sighed and nodded. "Yeah. He's just...Kaiba." The cook chuckled at that and ladled soup into both bowls.

"Well, take it from someone who's known him for years-he's a much better person now. That coma must've really scared him." She shook her head. "I never imagined that a child could be as cruel as he was, but now...well, I won't pretend he doesn't have an attitude, but I believe he's back to being a better person."

"He's always had good inside of him. It just sounds like he forgot for awhile and needed to be reminded of that..." Yugi said nonchalantly, not wanting to get into the details of that fateful duel. The cook made a noise of agreement and handed the tray over to him.

"Tell Mokuba I hope he's feeling better soon, and feel free to come back if you want anything else."

Yugi thanked her and accepted the tray before starting back to Mokuba's room, vaguely jealous of the fact that Kaiba had a kitchen staff who would make people whatever they wanted, when they wanted it. He laughed quietly to himself before carefully opening the door and walking over to Mokuba's bedside. He placed the tray down on the nightstand and patted Mokuba's shoulder.

"Hey, Mokuba...I brought up lunch, can you wake up?"

Mokuba stretched out and opened his eyes. "I'm already awake." His voice was weak and strained, unlike before. Yugi frowned and pulled off the washcloth so he could feel Mokuba's forehead. It felt about the same, so he decided to have Mokuba eat something before checking his temperature again.

"Here's some soup," Yugi said gently, removing one of the bowls to the nightstand so Mokuba could have the whole tray. "You should try to eat something."

Mokuba nodded and forced himself to eat as much as he could; it was enough that Yugi felt okay returning the bowls to the kitchen without prodding him to eat more. When he got back to Mokuba's room, the child was already asleep. Yugi had never been more happy for ear thermometers.

His temperature was up about half a degree, but it was plausible that was due to the soup. Yugi took a moment to watch the slumbering child. He looked peaceful enough, and he seemed to be resting well. Yugi replaced his washcloth and tucked him in before sitting in the chair beside Mokuba's bed. He didn't mean to, but he dozed off a few moments later.


End file.
